Super My Own Band

Boogiewall Soundsystem appears to be a Toronto-based project with shifting personnel that orbits around the duo of guitarist/programmer Sean Richards and singer/programmer Tanya Kornobis. The band's sound is an attractive blend of dub, Latin, trip-hop and reggae -- the songs all tend to involve various elements of several genres, while putting one of them front and center. Thus, you get the incongruously lighthearted Massive Attack-style trip-hop of "Do You Wanna Know" (also featured in a brilliant speed-rap remix), a turntablist workout titled "Time Out," the straight-up and horn-heavy reggae of "Time Is Passing," and a laid-back funk-reggae meditation titled "Jewel." Not everything works perfectly -- "You Got Me (Bang Bang Bang)" shoots for Latin jazziness and falls a bit short of the mark, while "Grant Me the Peace" shoots for soulful grooviness and achieves only a workmanlike sturdiness. But Kornobis' voice is a delight throughout, and whenever the horn section appears it brightens things considerably. So does Mad Professor, who contributes an excellent remix of the already very nice "Confide." Recommended.